The Internet's Shameful Role in Propagating Body Shaming

A problem once associated mainly with school playgrounds often follows people into adulthood, and the anonymity of the Internet has aided its proliferation. People have been shamed for being overweight, underweight, too conservative, too revealing, too young, too old, too plastic or too real.

Bullying and harassment are very real problems not only for children, but also for countless adults -- as evidenced by Playboy playmate Dani Mathers' recent Snap chat post of a nude 70-something woman who had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a locker room shower.

"If I can't unsee this then you can't either," Mathers commented with her post of the victim's photo.

The Los Angeles Police Department has asked the victim to identify her and aid in its criminal investigation of the incident -- but who could blame her if she doesn't?

The Internet and Social Shaming

Even when data has been deleted from the Web, it takes just one person who has preserved the information offline to revive it and spread it like a viral contagion.

European regulators have tasked Google with accommodating citizens' "right to be forgotten." What's posted on the Internet may stay on the Internet, but links that constantly surface humiliating information don't have to.

The Internet is a tool, and whether it's used to build or destroy is up to the persons who wield it, according to April Masini, a relationship and etiquette expert.

"When used for evil, the Internet is very dangerous," she told Tech News World. "Teens, as well as adults, have committed suicide as a result of cyber bullying."

There's no easy way to suppress body shaming and other forms of abuse, Masini conceded, especially when considering the protections of the First Amendment and the double-edged sword of anonymity. Without it, whistle-blowers would be unable to make the revelations that so often are required to bring about positive change.

Teach Your Children Well

Instead of looking to change the Internet, people should work to improve their own behavior, suggested motivational speaker Mel Jones, and a great place to start is with the youngest among us.

"The only ways to stomp out online abuse is to build up the kids' self-esteem in school so that they don't reflect their own insecurities about themselves on others," he told Tech News World. "Also, we must teach the kids empathy. It's hard to understand how you're making someone else feel if you've never had somebody do it to you."

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